This contribution focuses on military assistance of the Dutch police with forensic expertise by the army (not being the Dutch gendarmerie, the Koninklijke Marechaussee). The assistance basically consists of helping with search activities, with analysis and observations, all key functions within policing. The central question is: to what extent is this specific military assistance an example of plural policing? Today the armed forces are an essential part of a wider security policy, because the various types of national and international security are increasingly interconnected. This stresses the importance to involve the army in social (national) security. The forensic military assistance the authors studied does, however, not comprise law enforcement or patrolling in public spaces. With that in mind, this kind of assistance cannot automatically be labelled as plural policing. On the other hand, the military assistance contributes to a safe society and from that point of view it is an example of plural policing.

Een historisch perspectief (1850-2000)

For a century and a half, the Dutch police and the army cooperated in combating civil disturbances. It was common practice that soldiers were called from their barracks to assist in maintaining public order. However, to deploy the army against civilians raised fundamental questions about its legitimacy. As a result some Dutch police forces began implementing military tactics and using military equipment to do the job themselves. The high watermark of this development lies in the years between the two world wars, when revolution and civic unrest always seemed imminent. The post-war years were marked by the Cold War and fear of communist insurrection. Militarized units were always kept in reserve. Nowadays, the army still renders assistance, usually not ‘manu militari’, but on matters that require special expertise.

National and international security are becoming increasingly interdependent. The question is whether this leads to a certain level of militarization of the police and constibularisation of the military. In some of their operations and units, the Dutch police apply tactics, technologies and organizational principles that resemble those of the military. The police also contribute to international peace support operations and stability missions to train or monitor police in post-conflict areas. The Dutch army has been involved in some sort of interim policing during several stability missions and increasingly support the Dutch police in law enforcement operations by providing search and analytical support. Finally, as a police force with a military status, the Royal Marechaussee has acquired a structural and strong position in the Dutch police system. Although there is some sort of convergence, the authors conclude that the level of militarization of the police and constabularisation of the military remains limited.

The Netherlands armed forces are increasingly involved in activities within the Netherlands as well as abroad, that can be characterized as law enforcement. Military personnel, however, are not trained as law enforcement officials and perform these non-military tasks based on their military skills and drills. Nevertheless, their efforts eventually must lead to a criminal persecution of a suspect. Therefore, it is important that military personnel are well aware of the particular requirements set out by criminal procedures while planning and executing a military action and, whenever possible, operate in close collaboration with authorized law enforcement officials.

Since 2006 the police and the army in the Netherlands cooperate within the System of Special Units. These units are called upon in life-threatening situations with imminent or actual severe violence related for example to organized crime or terrorism. The author examines this cooperation and its added value. The work of the special units system in the police organization should be viewed and treated as police work. Considering today’s concerns about terrorism, it seems wise to invest in an adequate anti-terrorism capacity. Yet the reality is that there are far fewer terrorist attacks and victims in the Netherlands now than in the 1970s. At the same time the number of arrests under life-threatening circumstances that are dealt with by the Arrest Team (SWAT) within the police organization is much higher nowadays. The SWAT lacks capacity to deal with this situation adequately.

The Royal Military Police (Royal Marechaussee) is an organization of hybrid character, i.e. it is a police force and military force. Due to recent (inter)national developments the Royal Marechaussee has faced some challenges, especially in the event of a threat or near crisis. Those can be analyzed with the model of good governance and its four dimensions: legislation and regulations, implementation, a shared problem orientation and democracy. The Royal Marechaussee seems to focus primarily on the first two dimensions, while neglecting the need for a shared definition of the problem and awareness of the democratic context in crisis situations. This article uses two cases concerning Schiphol Airport to show how the model contributes on the one hand to the analysis of recent threat and crisis management and on the other hand to its improvement.